Of Reporters and Shooter Games
by Wolf-Shadow's-Ghost
Summary: Shepard's had a bad day, and she takes it out on the kitchen and gaming system, good thing Tali knows how to turn her frown upside down. Quick Romance Drabble.


Just a quick romantic drabble done for a friend of mine, hope you enjoy. :)

No beta so I probably have a bunch of errors, feel free to point them out.

'For BardicFrostBrain

Thanks for the awesome work you've put into 'The Study'! Here's a FemShep/Tali ficlet as a token of my gratitude. :) '

Oh and it's unbeta-ed, so there's probably a lot of errors. ^^;

* * *

Shepard dropped her helmet onto the counter-top with a bit less care than strictly necessary. Roughly stripping her gauntlets from her hand and muttering darkly under her breath, she stalked through the curved halls with a frustrated glint in her eyes.

"Stupid Reporters, stupid fame and fans." She snarled lowly, using the tone that had quailed Reapers and decimated mortals. "Damn the whole universe, don't know why I bothered saving it." She let out a frustrated howl when her cuirass jammed and refused to open. "Stupid useless synthesis and nano-bots in my brain!"

She all but kicked the heavy armory door open, even though the largely computerized house had 'read' her intention and started to open it already (nobody could quite figure out exactly _what _the crucible had done in order to 'unify' synthetics and organics but no one could deny its usefulness when the computers had started to anticipate commands), and tore at the claps of her N7 chest plate as she walked through.

Still growling and snapping; she stripped down to her under armor suit, dropping bits of her armor uncaringly across the floor, benches and work table, completely ignoring any sense of order.

Not bothering to neaten the brightly lit and well stocked arsenal, or to even attempt putting the armor away, Shepard stomped from the room, peeling herself from the skin tight suit with painful twists and jerks.

The scalding shower did little to improve her temper, even with the absurd number of nozzles and settings, though she did cease her verbal onslaught by the time she'd dried and dressed.

Still, she sighed a deep and depressed breath as she sank into the too soft couch and started up at the oddly reflective ceiling.

"Damned Paparazzi," she muttered darkly after a moment, "can't even get rid of them on Rannoch, you'd think the lack of a decent amino based meal would drive some of them off but nooooo…"

No reply came from the empty alien home, and after a long moment of silent stewing, Shepard groaned and booted up the TV and game system, choosing the most violent shooter in her collection.

Hours later, after much virtual carnage that was oddly cathartic, she heard the door open and soft footsteps approached the conjoined dinning and kitchen.

Not looking up from the screen or controller (she was just one the last boss of the level, and was extremely close to a perfect kill) she tossed a distracted "Hey." Over one shoulder.

There was a pause and then…

"So I take it that you and your helmet had an argument today?"

Even without the oddly metallic tinge to her tone, Shepard would recognize Tali's voice anywhere, her trilling accent playing musical notes over top of the yells and gunshots from the game.

"What makes you say that?" she shot back tightly, her on-screen character narrowly avoiding a deadly strike.

She heard the scrape of metal over stone and the clack of nails, Tali probably grabbing up her discarded helmet. "Because there is a fresh scratch in my purple obsidian counter-top that wasn't there this morning."

"Oh." she should probably be more concerned, Tali's tone was oddly neutral at the moment, though considering how particular she was about things in the recently finished house, that wasn't likely to last.

"That's coming out of your bank account you know." The quarian's tone came across as amused and playful, the light lit at the end of her words enough to ease some of the tightness in Shepard's chest.

Some.

"'Kay." She shot a round straight through the monster's eye for the kill shot, and mashed the A button to rush through the appearing stat screens, eager to move on to the next battle.

Another moment of silence between the two of them, though she could practically _hear _Tali's complex technical brain calculating, configurating, completing a thought, and deciding to execute a plan.

The clatter of her helmet on the countertop distracted Shepard enough to make her glance over and catch sight of Tali _prowling _closer.

She swallowed and barley had the sense of mind to pause her game as she watched Tali approach.

No matter how many times she saw the younger woman, Shepard would never get over just how beautiful the quairan's alien body was.

Free of her suit (thanks largely to the geth and synthesis), Tali was all willow and sinew, her skin a pale shade of lilac purple that glimmered metallically in the light. Plates, not unlike those on turians, layered over parts of her arms and legs –what would have been the blades of the arms and the shins on a human- shone ivory white against the contrast of her loose tee-shirt and shorts.

Almost perfectly straight lines of black crossed over her body in straight angle patterns, the thinnest of which slipped up her throat to her chin, another set slipping down from her hairline to grace her forhead.

Her eyes glowed a single shade of silver, her pupils a shadow of darker grey almost entirely swallowed by the metallic gleam.

Tali smirked a victorious little smirk as she slipped in front of Shepard then knelt to straddle her legs, her bare, three toed feet brushing gently against Shepard's exposed calves.

"So…" she began slowly, settling down to sit comfortably in Shepards lap, leaning into the touch as Shepard automatically brought a hand up to slip under her shirt and caress her waist. "What's got you in such a mood?"

The euphoric giddiness she got just by _looking _at Tali was banished and she growled lowly, glancing away. "Damned press ambushed me at the port, recording _live_ and asking all kinds of prickly questions."

Tali's fingers threaded through her hair and made her turn to look back into the quarian's depth-less eyes. She was quick to return the touch, tangling her fingers in Tali's much thinner black hair, the wirily strands like oil on against her skin.

"Hmmm… They wouldn't happen to have been from the Galactic News Network, Public Information Broadcasting, and Gossip Central stations, would they?"

Shepards brows went up. "Yes. In fact, those three exactly. You seem to be well informed Admiral."

"Perks of the rank and all that." Tali replied airily "I happened to have also been informed that all three of those stations servers went down for some, 'unscheduled' maintenance just after the Normandy entered orbit."

A wicked grin slowly spread across Shepard lips, and she quickly ducked her head in to place feather kisses along Tali's jawline, neck and forehead, relishing in the cutely delighted giggles they elicited.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you, Admiral Tali'Zorah Vas Normany-Shepard?"

"A few times, but I could stand to be told again."

In unison, they moved closer together for a proper kiss, enjoying the moment that had seemed unlikely to ever dawn, the closeness both had feared to tempt. Now they basked in the warm knowledge that they had a_now _and an _us, together._

"So, shall I think of a way to keep your mind from those nasty reporters and your SPECTER duties while you are here at home?" Tali murmured huskily in her ear.

"Well, I've been thinking about getting a dog." She replied and then yelped when Tali tweaked a nipple sharply through her shirt.

"Bosh'tet."

"Love you."

"And I love you."


End file.
